This application relates broadly to the various applications wherein articles are attached to or suspended from wire grids. More particularly, the invention relates to a device which may be used for connecting articles such as garment display racks of the type used in retail clothing establishments to wire grid support structures.
Because the invention is particularly applicable to garment display racks, it will be described herein with particular reference thereto. It must be appreciated, however, that the invention has broader applications and may indeed find utility in connection with any application wherein an article or accessory is to be connected to two or more generally parallel support wires.
Garment racks of the type used in retail clothing establishments have heretofor included many adjustable racks for hanging garments. One particular type of garment rack comprises a series of hanger supporting rods which are detachably connected to a wire grid support structure. The support structure generally comprises a series of parallel, rigid, horizontal wire members which extend along one or more walls in the customer display area of the store. One or more hanger rods are attached to and extend perpendicularly from the wire grid by way of connector brackets. Each such connector bracket generally comprises a flat bar having a hook-shaped curl portion formed along the upper edge thereof. Such hook-shaped curl fits over and frictionally engages one of the horizontal wires of the grid while the lower end of the flat bar abuts an adjacent one of the horizontal wires. The result is that the bracket is held firmly on the wire grid and the hanger bar remains perpendicularly suspended therefrom. Such garment racks of the prior art provide a versatile and readily changeable means of displaying merchandise. Indeed, numerous garments may be hung from the hanger bars for customer perusal while the hanger rods remain slidably moveable along the horizontal wires. Also, if desired, each hanger bar/connector bracket may be disconnected and reconnected to higher or lower cross wires thereby altering the height of the garment hanger.
One drawback associated with such prior art garment hangers, however, is that the bottom end of the connector bracket is not locked in place. Thus, if a customer accidentally bumps or exerts upward pressure on the garment hanging rod, the upper end of the connector bracket may become detached from the wire grid, causing the hanger support rod and the displayed garments to fall to the floor.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a modified connector bracket which may be easily connected to the wire grid and which will remain slidably movable therealong while at the same time being sufficiently locked into place so as to prevent inadvertent dislodgement of the connector bracket and resultant falling of the garments.